Tethered Souls | Books 1, 2, and 3

39 | Immune

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• Amir •

As one?

Amir's eyebrows furrowed to learn about this. How did Luna know tethered pairs can come together if they've seen each other before?

"I know what you're wondering, Amir. I don't have to read your mind to understand the questions you're asking."

"I was wondering how you knew that about pairs and being immune."

Luna took a minute to respond. "Before being thrown onto this floor, Cami opened up to me about certain paired partners."

Holding her hand, Amir connected to her mind and reflected on a memory of hers with Cami.

"Some people who are tethered together are immune to the effects that happen between us," Cami explained as she and Luna sat on a bench outside, away from the cameras. "Some pairs may hold each other and never get sick."

"How do the pairs know if it works for them?"

"If two people who are paired meet physically and nothing happens for two minutes or ten minutes tops, then they'll be immune to our conflict. Maybe you and Amir will be immune." 

"Maybe. How do you know about the exceptional ones?" Luna asked, shifting one leg over the other. 

Cami glanced at the door, then met Luna's gaze. "Because my parents are Tethered Souls and were paired."

"So, Cami's parents are paired?" Amir asked, flabbergasted by this news. Luna nodded but then narrowed her eyes. "What is it?" 

"A consequence happened for the couple by staying together." 

"What was it?" Amir asked and proceeded to connect to Luna's memories.

"They made it, then," Luna said to Cami. She shook her head as a tear started rolling down her cheek. "What?"

"My parents lost their ability to keep their powers. They slowly lost their memories of being a Tethered Soul and having telepathy."

"That's so sad," Luna sympathized as she pulled Cami into a soft hug. "They have no idea they are different from everyone else?" 

Cami shook her head and Luna sighed, gulping. Her parents were paired and didn't even know it.

Amir's eyes widen as he looked toward the ceiling, shock riding over his face. "The people who came to see her were her parents, right?" Luna nodded, pinching her lips into a thin line. He continued, "They don't know that she has the gene, nor did they see Faisal and me inside the visitor's lounge that day." 

Luna shook her head. "They have no idea who she really is. Or who they used to be. Her mother was sixteen when she first met Cami's father. She was on a school trip to Africa, and they met on a safari. He is from Nigeria and her mother is from Iceland. For years, they stayed in touch and maintained a good friendship. They share the same birthday and the same birth year." 

Amir let out a deep breath as Luna continued.

"On the couple's twenty-fifth birthday, Cami's mother, Carol, made contact with Cami's father, Naeem, while she was driving to her job in Reykjavík. He was in the middle of cooking something for his family in Lagos, and they talked that whole evening, wondering what was going on. They were shocked to be in two different places telepathically. He was the first to come into contact with someone else in his country who was a Tethered Soul, and the two slowly understood the nature of our abilities."